It was very exciting to see many of our design community all together at the Center for Architecture and Design’s Main Hall to talk DesignPhiladelphia. Half the room were event partners and the other half NEW to the festivities—it’s always a thrill to see new faces. If you missed our coffee social grab a cuppa joe or some tea, and enjoy the recap below.

Enjoy the oldest design festival in the country October 3 through the 13th, and enjoy the Kickoff Party + Benefit on Wednesday, October 2 at Cherry Street Pier. Over the course of ten days we will celebrate our design community of professionals, emerging talent, and welcome Philadelphia to the important work we do.

2019 FestivalHubs

This year we have two FestivalHubs: DesignPhiladelphia’s home the Center for Architecture and Design (the Center) located by the historical Reading Terminal Market, and our offsite FestivalHub that Cherry Street Pier. This mixed-use public space on a century-old municipal pier will be home to experiential installations inspired by the theme of MATERIALS. Materials matter, and is an accessible topic to both designers and non-designers with an opportunity to educate our community on design and the world around us.

Impact by Design

There are opportunities for our community to get involved as an Event Partner-- host a talk, open your studio during a DesignCrawl, take over The Icon (our traveling pavilion), create an installation at the Cherry Street Pier or at the Center, lead a tour, or create a workshop for kids and/or adults. Maybe organize a film screening or a fashion show, the possibilities are endless! Have an idea but don’t have a space? Have a space and don’t have an of an idea? Let DesignPhiladelphia pair you up!

We’re also introducing a new event partner level--design displays! If you’re a business with a storefront or have interior space for a display, get the festival buzz going a week before and show off your design prowess.

Consider supporting DesignPhiladelphia with more gusto? Support one of our experiential programs, from the DPKidsFest during the first weekend of the festival, focused on our youngest audience and future designers. Or our Design is Inclusive exhibit, the Traveling Pavilion, or our Kickoff Party sponsor.

Up for a Challenge?

Participate in our Best In Design: Ready to Scale showcase, have a design solution that makes life better? Enter to win $5000 to help your design and business grow. All finalists will be featured at Cherry Street Pier during the festival.

Take DesignPhiladelphia with You

Enjoy the festival with our mobile app and NEW printed event guide. Any event partners and sponsors confirmed by June will be included in our print materials. Also find more of DesignPhiladelphia in the CONTEXT magazine, a quarterly publication of AIA Philadelphia, with guest editor Michelle Millar Fisher. Fisher is currently The Louis C. Madeira IV Assistant Curator of European Decorative Arts and Design at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Onward!

Help celebrate design in Philadelphia in October as a hub for design excellence, a city that supports economic opportunities for local designers, and a time to educate the public on the impact of design in our everyday lives.

If you would like to find out more about DesignPhiladelphia, or have any questions, please contact Erike De Veyra, Community Outreach and DesignPhiladelphia Program Manager at erike@philadelphiacfa.org, or 215.569.3186 x109.

Check out the DesignPhiladelphia Coffee Social presentation here, also be on the lookout for upcoming DesignPhiladelphia Info Session roadshow dates in your neck of the woods if you missed this coffee social.